hi guys , I've been enjoying the fa19 for a week now and it's really a great set. it's musical, engaging and that bass. my old library feels like new again when listening to the fa19 it's really magical. it's the best I've heard from fiio. Great job!
As someone who owned the Variatios and the S8 (which I think is better) you can only endgame with an Reference Monitor like the M9, SE846, Mach 70 and similar because only these can play every song and make it sound right/good.
The variations is good until you discover a new music album that doesn't sound good with it.
Something like that will never happen with an Monitor and is kinda what FiiO was targeting with the FA9 and the FA19 (IMHO)
For an good monitor you have to pay money, sadly. The cheapest one that does it job well is the IE 400 which is surprisingly good, but no comparison to the other mentioned ones. But its good, so you don't have to rob the bank for something that's good
But for an >=4-way system, you're almost always paying around 1k
But i know an SE846 owner who has his for 10 years and still has a endgame flagship. So if you invest wise, you do it once and can be happy/done
Westone Mach 70 is the best IEM I have heard. I keep returning to it. Everything just feels right for me in all aspects of the frequency.
I heard the Astell and Kern / Empire Ears colab IEM - Novus, which costs £4999, it sounded far too wide with a big space in the middle. Soundstage on that is excellent but it sounded very weird to me. A bit like how the AKG headphones sound to me, everything is far left akd far right with emptiness in the middle. Hard to explain it in audiophile terms. Hope it makes sense.
Then I put the Mach 70 back in my ears and was like "Ahhhhhhh, yes!"
I really wanted to like the Moondrop Variations but that set, the midrange, where is the midrange? I kept asking myself.
Not too fair comparison for a single DD [A8000] to be compared against a 10 BA set in the FA19.
But FWIW A8000 is way more bright in the treble, with a peak around 5 to 6 kHz that is quite harsh if you are treble sensitive. FA19 is tamer there and also has lusher mids. A8000 has a thinner note weight too.
FA19 has two tuning nozzles to vary tonality a bit and is easier to drive.
I am surprised you found them remarkable comfortable, but, of course, every ear is different.
I could not stand them much longer then 2h before i had to take a break. Especially the rather thick nozzle caused me issues. 2h with comply. With the stock foam, i had to take them out after like 15 minutes before they started to hurt, but FiiO is known for shipping the worst foam earpieces that mankind invented. I think they hate foam and don't want people to use them
I am surprised you found them remarkable comfortable, but, of course, every ear is different.
I could not stand them much longer then 2h before i had to take a break. Especially the rather thick nozzle caused me issues. 2h with comply. With the stock foam, i had to take them out after like 15 minutes before they started to hurt, but FiiO is known for shipping the worst foam earpieces that mankind invented. I think they hate foam and don't want people to use them
I used the stock silicone ear-tips but I have rather large and deep ear cavities so I found them very comfortable. I usually have issues with swallow and low profile ear-shells with short tubes. The FA19 was extremely comfortable for me.
I used the stock silicone ear-tips but I have rather large and deep ear cavities so I found them very comfortable. I usually have issues with swallow and low profile ear-shells with short tubes. The FA19 was extremely comfortable for me.
Me too, that is why i appreciate and usually use those longer earpieces like COMPLY P which are 1.5x longer than average ear pieces (and insanely soft and comfortable).
But at least for my ears, the nozzle was too big, but, of course, that is an issue i have with several IEM. Sometimes its okay (the TG335 for example was very comfortable for me even though having a giant nozzle, but it is not round and rather "ear" shaped, that helped, at least for me) but its a hit/miss.
With the FA19, it was okay, but not comfortable (for me)
Odd that this thread isn't more active, I suppose everyone is happy with this one and has moved on from their search for an IEM.
Personally I really like the FA19. I'm using a Fiio LC-RE Pro 2022 cable, source is a crippled Sony WM1AM2 with a 1.5Tb uSD card loaded with FLAC files and for me its the perfect portable setup.
I think its going to get a long reliability test, I'll report back in a year or so.
As the "Monitoring" Sound setting doesn't actually enable you to use it as an Monitor, for those who have Wavelet (AutoEQ), here is an profile for you
But keep in mind that AutoEQ is not magic, if you AutoEQ 3 IEM to sound identical, they will still sound very different. But of course, feel free to adjust the EQ filter based on your experience. It might not hit the bulls eye, but its a good base.
You have to use it in the Monitor mode for this EQ to work
It took me a while, but the FA19 is finally here. And it is a keeper.
It has a polished presentation but what it does, it does very well. I will spend some time in the "Monitor mode" — because, knowing myself, as soon as I engage the bass boost switch (HiFi mode), there will likely be no turning back to stock settings.
Despite the BA bass, now that my ears got adjusted to FA19's sound signature, I still haven't found any issue whatsoever with its tuning.
The mids and the treble of the FA19 are spot on to my preferences. Acoustic and crunched guitars sound really good to my ears. It feels like I am sitting next to the speaker cabinet. Here are a couple of tracks that showcase this aspect:
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